Philadelphia woman gives birth on sled

The winter storm will be unforgettable for one Philadelphia mom who gave birth to her baby on a sled.

January 22, 2014 5:40:50 PM PST

Action News

PHILADELPHIA - January 22, 2014 --

The winter storm will be unforgettable for one Philadelphia mom who gave birth on her way to the hospital. But it didn't happen in a car or ambulance like you would think. Baby girl Bella was born on a sled. Bella Sophia Bonanni weighs 7 lb. 9 oz. and was born around 6 this morning, on a sled in the middle of Cinnamon Drive in Roxborough.

"I woke up with contractions, they were about 10 minutes apart. So, we thought we had plenty of time to go to the hospital," recalled mom Shirley Kim Bonanni.

Fabian Bonnani called his parents to come watch 2-year-old Logan and got the family car as far up Cinnamon Drive as he could. He even had a backup plan in case Shirley couldn't walk from their house.

"It seemed like it was walkable to the car. But I had the sleds just in case it was super-slippery, because we had that ice storm like a week or two ago," Fabian told Action News.

By the time Shirley showered and her in-laws arrived, the contractions were too quick and too strong for her to walk. So Fabian put her in the sled and tried to slide her down to the car. But Bella wouldn't wait.

Neighbor George Leader saw the commotion outside, heard Shirley yelling, and called 911.

"I was on the phone with 911, talking him through it and he certainly delivered his own baby, right there, on the side of the road," Leader said.

Fabian ran the baby -- wrapped in blankets back up to their house. The new Grandma and Grandpa -- who'd watched the birth -- helped George and his roommate carry Shirley, still on the sled, into their house to keep warm.

"There's three guys over there... were wonderful. 'Three Musketeers' they came out, they were with us the whole time with blankets and we drug her into the house,"

Eventually, EMTs made it up the hill to care for both mother and baby and transported them to the hospital.

Baby and mom are both doing fine and expected to go home in a couple of days.